By Brete Murphy · November 9, 2026
Designed by a member of Bayside Lodge No. 999, the Bell Boulevard temple opened in 1923 with rooms for ceremony, dining and neighborhood gatherings. Its later church ownership brought another chapter—and, in 2015, plans for a substantial new wing.
← Bayside Lodge No. 999: Lodge History · The 273 Line: Start Here · Related: The Whitestone Masonic Temple →
The building committee of Bayside Lodge first wanted a different corner.
It recommended a lot measuring 100 by 150 feet at Lawrence Boulevard and First Street. Members pledged twenty thousand dollars toward the project.
Then the lodge changed course.
According to Joan Brown Wettingfeld’s account, the members rescinded the first plan and selected a lot of the same dimensions at the northeast corner of Bell and Lamartine Avenues.
There the temple rose: deep red brick, white Corinthian columns and pale terra-cotta trim.
Lamartine became 36th Avenue. Bell Avenue became Bell Boulevard. The building remained at the corner while the names around it changed.
The lodge eventually consolidated. Churches succeeded it in the property. A later owner planned an addition with a cafeteria and gym.
The building’s history is therefore not quite the same as the lodge’s history.
One follows a charter into Francis Lewis Lodge No. 273. The other stays on Bell Boulevard.
The Brother Who Drew It
The architect was Herbert O. Wiegand, a Bayside resident and member of the lodge.
Wettingfeld’s local history states that he supplied plans and specifications and supervised construction without charge. Bayside Historical Society independently identifies him as the architect.
His name also appears in the contemporary officer lists.
The newspapers differ over whether “H. O. Weigand” was senior or junior master of ceremonies. The disagreement does not change the larger connection: the architect also held a place in the lodge whose temple he designed.
The architectural work came through a member’s professional contribution.
That makes a useful comparison with Advance Lodge in Astoria, where the author’s lodge research describes Arthur E. Wenige’s firm supplying lodge-room blueprints previously used at Hillside in Woodhaven.
The sources attribute Bayside’s temple to Wiegand. They do not connect it to the Wenige plan.
Read One Lodge Room, Two Temples: Arthur E. Wenige’s Queens Blueprint →
What the Plans Promised
The newspaper descriptions gave the building three stories on its 100-by-150-foot site.
Its materials supplied the image that still defines the early accounts: “deep, rich red brick, with white Corinthian columns and cream white terra cotta trim.”
Bayside Historical Society describes the design as neo-classic.
The columns gave the entrance a formal presence. Behind them, the room program was practical and varied:
- A lodge room measuring 33 by 53 feet.
- An auditorium measuring 38 by 49 feet.
- A large dining room.
- A billiard room.
- A reception room.
- Offices for the secretary and treasurer.
The plan provided more than a room for stated meetings.
It made space for meals, entertainments, business and informal company. Those different uses help explain why the building later appeared so often in neighborhood event notices.
Its civic life did not require inventing another building inside the temple. The rooms were already there.
Gifts for the Interior
The building also gathered contributions from members and friends.
Wettingfeld’s account identifies gifts of the cornerstone, an organ and a piano.
The sculptor Louis S. Massimo designed and presented a decoration for the Master’s station in the east, according to the contemporary newspaper description.
The organ’s history requires a distinction.
The New York City Organ Project identifies Hillgreen, Lane & Company’s 1923 work as the rebuilding and electrification of an earlier instrument by an unknown maker.
It should not simply be described as an entirely new organ manufactured in 1923.
The gifts nevertheless show how the interior was assembled through more than the construction contract.
A building could be put up by a contractor. Making it ready for the lodge’s ceremonies and entertainments required other contributions.
The present locations of the organ, piano and Massimo decoration have not been established in the research supplied for this article.
A Cost That Changes With the Source
The Gabler Construction Company built the temple.
Wettingfeld’s later history described the work as completed “in record time.”
The cost is less settled.
The assembled sources give figures of $65,000, $80,000, $100,000 and $109,000. One contemporary account used the qualification “when furnished.”
Those differences may reflect estimates, changing project scope or different accounting boundaries. Without the building accounts, the figures cannot be reconciled confidently.
It would be tempting to assign the lowest number to construction and the highest to land, furnishings and equipment.
The supplied evidence does not establish that explanation.
The safest treatment is to preserve the range and identify which source gives each figure when discussing the finances in detail.
The scale of the undertaking is clear even where the final total is not.
Two Thousand at the Cornerstone
Grand Master Arthur S. Tompkins laid the cornerstone at half past three on the afternoon of May 30, 1923.
A street procession preceded the ceremony, with the Fort Totten band among the participants.
One newspaper estimated two thousand spectators.
The Bayside Yacht Club held its formal opening the same afternoon, and advance coverage anticipated that the two events would draw overlapping crowds.
Wettingfeld’s account describes a souvenir program containing floor plans and advertisements from businesses as far away as Ohio and Rhode Island.
It also records a former chief of the Bayside Volunteer Fire Department receiving a miniature souvenir brick.
The program and the small brick represented two scales of the same occasion: a substantial building project and an object someone could carry home.
The original program would be especially valuable to recover. A later summary establishes that plans were reproduced; examination of the program itself could clarify the arrangement and intended uses of the rooms.
A December Dedication
The temple was dedicated on December 10, 1923.
That was about nineteen months after Bayside Lodge received its charter on May 3, 1922, and a little over six months after the cornerstone ceremony.
A young lodge had moved from organization to a substantial home within a short span.
By the time of the dedication, another organization was being formed around the building.
A November newspaper account announced the Masonic Club of Bayside, intended for nearby Masons whose lodge affiliations were elsewhere.
Restaurant facilities, billiards and other comforts were promised in the new quarters.
The club should not automatically be called a tenant.
The notice establishes its formation and intended use of the temple, not the legal terms of occupancy. The lodge, club and property-owning entity require separate identification where the records permit it.
What the account does show is that the building was expected to serve more Masons than the membership of Bayside Lodge alone.
The Rooms Bayside Used
Over the following decades, the temple’s rooms appeared in notices for many kinds of gathering.
Royal Arch Masons met there. So did the Order of the Eastern Star and the lodge’s Fellowcraft Club.
Boy Scouts from Bayside, Douglaston and Little Neck received awards at courts of honor.
A court of the Catholic Daughters of America held a card party. The Queens women’s division of the American Jewish Congress organized a bazaar.
Later notices announced widows’ meetings, a Hibernian auxiliary fashion show and flea markets.
The variety matters more than any single event.
It shows a building repeatedly used by organizations with different memberships and purposes.
In January 1983, that use became part of a public disagreement.
After the temple was listed as a possible homeless-shelter site, the lodge’s Master said the proposal was not workable. The building, he explained, was “rented out almost every day” for Masonic meetings and community groups and contained “a big library.”
The statement supports the image of a busy hall.
It does not establish that this was Bayside’s largest rentable room or provide a complete rental calendar.
The fuller community story appears in Bayside’s Front Parlor: Lodge No. 999 and the Temple on Bell Boulevard.
The Lodge and the Property Take Different Paths
On August 14, 1986, Bayside Lodge No. 999 consolidated with Metropolitan-Whitestone Lodge No. 273.
The combined body became Francis Lewis Lodge No. 273.
That date establishes the institutional change. It does not establish the temple’s sale date or the last Masonic meeting held there.
The building later came into the ownership of Elim Presbyterian Church of New York.
The New York City Organ Project records the Elim connection, and later reporting identifies Elim as the seller in a subsequent transaction.
The first transfer from Masonic ownership remains unresolved in the supplied research.
So does the length of any Francis Lewis occupancy after 1986.
These are property and meeting-place questions, not questions the consolidation date can answer on its own.
Read A Signer’s Name, an Older Number: Francis Lewis Lodge No. 273 →
A Church Purchase in 2012
A QNS report on the building’s later expansion states that Siloam Reformed Church of New York purchased the property from Elim Presbyterian Church in 2012 for $1.8 million.
The report attributes the transaction information to city records.
It gives the address as 35-25 Bell Boulevard, supporting the number used in the author’s newspaper research.
That address differs from the numbers printed in some organ databases. The discrepancy should remain noted, but the transaction report provides a direct building-specific reference for 35-25.
The sale marks another stage in the property’s history.
It does not establish the date when Elim first acquired the former temple.
The New Wing
By the time of the 2015 QNS report, construction on an addition was underway.
The report described a new wing designed by Victor Han Architects, with space for a cafeteria and gym area.
According to the Buildings Department filings summarized by the newspaper, the project would increase the building from about 8,000 square feet to nearly 14,000.
The report expected completion that year.
That is evidence of an active construction project and its proposed scope—not confirmation that every part was completed as planned.
A final sign-off, later building record or site account would be needed to establish the finished configuration.
Nor does the report prove that this was the building’s first alteration since 1923.
What it documents is a substantial expansion undertaken during Siloam’s ownership.
The temple had been planned with several kinds of rooms. Its later owner was preparing additional space for another congregation’s needs.
What the Building Carries Forward
The early accounts begin with a lodge selecting a corner and a member supplying the architectural work.
They continue through a cornerstone ceremony, a December dedication and decades of notices for meetings and benefits.
The later record follows churches, a sale and an expansion project.
Those are connected histories, but they are not interchangeable.
The building did not carry Bayside Lodge’s charter into its new ownership. The lodge’s institutional line continued in Francis Lewis.
What remained at Bell Boulevard was the property and the architectural history attached to it.
The columns and brickwork gave the temple its public face. The room plan made it useful. Later owners found uses of their own.
That is the building story beside the lodge story: one address, successive institutions and a structure adapted to keep serving the people inside it.
Building at a Glance
| Detail | Evidence or status |
|---|---|
| Original institution | Bayside Lodge No. 999 |
| Location | Northeast corner of Bell Boulevard and 36th Avenue |
| Address used here | 35-25 Bell Boulevard |
| Architect | Herbert O. Wiegand |
| Builder | Gabler Construction Company |
| Cornerstone | May 30, 1923 |
| Dedication | December 10, 1923 |
| Reported original lodge room | 33 by 53 feet |
| Reported auditorium | 38 by 49 feet |
| Original cost | Conflicting figures; final total unresolved |
| End of Masonic ownership | Not established in the supplied research |
| Later owner | Elim Presbyterian Church of New York |
| Reported 2012 purchaser | Siloam Reformed Church of New York |
| Reported 2012 price | $1.8 million, according to QNS citing city records |
| Expansion reported in 2015 | Cafeteria and gym wing designed by Victor Han Architects |
| Completion of expansion | Requires confirmation |
Sources and Research Notes
1. Site, Architect and Member Contributions
[Joan Brown Wettingfeld, “Our History: Masonic Temple Symbolic of Cultural Landmark,” QNS, February 8, 2007](Our History: Masonic temple symbolic of cultural landmark
Our History: Masonic temple symbolic of cultural landmark A cultural landmark is a site whose significance lies not in its architectural design alone, but rather in its association with figures and events of
Supports the site-selection account, pledges, Wiegand’s professional contribution, member gifts, souvenir program and retrospective building history.
This article relies on Wettingfeld’s summary. It does not claim independent examination of the original cornerstone program.
2. Architect, Builder and Dedication
Bayside Historical Society, “Masonic Lodge”.
Identifies Herbert O. Wiegand, Gabler Construction Company, the December 10, 1923 dedication and the building’s architectural character.
The date is approximately nineteen months after the May 3, 1922 charter.
3. Contemporary Building and Cornerstone Accounts
- Brooklyn Daily Times, May 25, 1923.
- Daily News, May 27, 1923.
- Times Union, May 29, 1923.
- Brooklyn Eagle, May 31, 1923.
- Brooklyn Citizen, May 31, 1923.
Support the building description, room dimensions, cost estimates, procession and cornerstone ceremony.
The Eagle identifies “H. O. Weigand” as junior master of ceremonies; the Times Union lists him as senior master of ceremonies. The article preserves the broader officer connection without choosing between those titles.
The reported crowd of two thousand is a newspaper estimate.
4. Organ History
[New York City Organ Project, “Masonic Temple—Bayside”](Masonic Temple - Bayside (Queens), N.Y.
Masonic Temple - Bayside (Queens), N.Y.
Identifies Hillgreen, Lane & Company, Opus 743, 1923, as a rebuilding and electrification of an earlier instrument by an unknown maker.
Also supplies later church associations.
The page’s street number differs from 35-25 Bell Boulevard. The article follows the author’s clipping research and the address in the later QNS transaction and construction report.
The original research also identifies a Pipe Organ Database entry. Its direct item URL was not supplied.
5. Masonic Club of Bayside
Times Union, November 11, 1923.
Supports the club’s formation, intended constituency and promised facilities.
It is not treated as proof of a lease or a separate property interest.
6. Community Use
The detailed newspaper references are retained in Bayside Lodge No. 999: Lodge History.
They include:
- Brooklyn Daily Times, 1927–1930.
- Newsday, November 21, 1968.
- Daily News, April 7, 1978.
- Daily News, April 4, 1981.
- Newsday, May 5, 1981.
- Daily News, September 9, 1982.
- Newsday, December 16, 1984.
7. Shelter Proposal
Gus Dallas, “Mason Jarred by Shelter Proposal,” Daily News, January 28, 1983.
Supports the Master’s description of frequent rentals and the library.
It does not establish the building’s relative size among Bayside halls or provide a complete administrative account of the proposal.
8. Elim Ownership
The New York City Organ Project records the Elim Presbyterian connection.
The author’s original research also identifies Queens Community Board 11 religious-institution information and QNS houses-of-worship coverage from 2009. Direct item links were not supplied.
The date and terms of the transfer from Masonic ownership remain unresolved.
9. Siloam Purchase and Expansion
[Liam La Guerre, “Expansion of Bayside Church Underway,” QNS, 2015](Expansion of Bayside church underway
Expansion of Bayside church underway Construction to expand the Siloam Reformed Church of New York in Bayside is underway and officials expect the work will be completed this year.
Reports:
- The 35-25 Bell Boulevard address.
- Siloam’s 2012 purchase from Elim for $1.8 million, citing city records.
- Construction underway on a new cafeteria and gym wing.
- Victor Han Architects as designer.
- A proposed increase from approximately 8,000 to nearly 14,000 square feet.
The report describes work underway and expected completion. It is not used as proof of final completion.
10. Institutional Consolidation
Grand Lodge of New York records supplied by Brete Murphy.
Establish the August 14, 1986 consolidation of Bayside and Metropolitan-Whitestone as Francis Lewis Lodge No. 273.
The consolidation date does not establish a sale or departure date for the building.
A Note on the Record
The article separates institutional lineage, property ownership and physical alterations.
It does not treat the different original cost figures as reconciled.
It does not claim that the 2015 project was the building’s first addition.
It does not establish the final configuration or completion date of the reported expansion.
The present locations of the organ, library and Massimo decoration remain unknown in the supplied research.
Questions for Further Research
- When did the Masonic property owner sell to Elim, and for how much?
- Did Francis Lewis Lodge continue meeting in the building after 1986?
- What do the deed and tax-lot records establish about the ownership sequence?
- Was the 2015 addition completed as described?
- Does the cornerstone remain visible?
- Is there a record of the cornerstone contents being opened or moved?
- What happened to the organ, Massimo decoration and lodge library?
- What else did Herbert O. Wiegand design?
- Does the original cornerstone program survive in an accessible collection?
Continue Reading
- Bayside’s Front Parlor: Lodge No. 999 and Its Community Life
- Thirty-Four by Sixty-Two: The Whitestone Masonic Temple
- Arthur E. Wenige: One Lodge Room, Two Temples
- Francis Lewis Lodge No. 273 and Brandeis
- The 273 Line: Research Dossier and Series Roadmap
← Bayside Lodge No. 999 · The 273 Line: Overview · The Whitestone Temple →
